50th Anniversary of DNA's Discovery

nxg125 writes "The New York Times has a section on the 50th anniversary of Watson & Crick's discovery of DNA. Lots of good articles about the discovery, Watson & Crick themselves, and where this information will take us from here."

Comments

Discovery of DNA prevented by co-ed universities?

[girl_geek_antinomy]

I remember hearing a wonderful interview with Watson a few years ago - he was saying that if Cambridge had been more co-ed at the time (there were only three Womens' olleges, everywhere else was male) he'd have been too busy trying to get a girlfriend to spend all that time elucidating the structure of DNA.

Re:Aren't we forgetting someone?

[Speed Racer]

She was the X-Ray crystallographer, not the co-discoverer. She dismissed the critical DNA type B X-Ray that she took as being unimportant. Unfortunately, nobody ever told her of the critical role her image played. Nevertheless, she was NOT a co-discoverer.

Re:50th anniversary rememberance..

[tbmaddux]

... why don't people remember ... Rosalind Franklin ...

People remember "Watson and Crick" because those were the names on their paper. Wilkins declined to have his name included (d'oh!). And Franklin, she certainly does get remembered, but more for being "ripped off" (as many others have told me -- the full story is of course more complex) because she was just a post-doc, or a woman.

I find it interesting...

[keyslammer]

... that /. now has on the same page a report of the 50 year anniversary of the discovery of DNA and another report of
the construction of a super-computer from DNA.

50 years from discovery to super-computer technology. Can you say "accelerating returns"? Can ya? Sure you can!